The government has extended the bid submission deadline for the 10th round of the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP-X), the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) said, moving the closing date to 29 May 2026 and marking the fourth postponement. The extension gives investors three months to prepare bids as authorities implement newly liberalised exploration rules introduced after the Oilfields Amendment Bill. Industry sources said the delay aimed to allow companies more time to assess changes.

OALP-X was launched in February during India Energy Week 2025 and had been due to close at the end of July before earlier extensions to 31 October, 31 December 2025 and 18 February 2026. The bid deadline for the fourth round of Discovered Small Fields (DSF) and the special coal-bed methane (CBM) round remains unchanged.

The round offers 25 blocks covering nearly 192,000 square kilometres, including six onshore blocks, six shallow-water areas, one deepwater block and 12 ultra-deepwater blocks across 13 sedimentary basins. It includes four blocks in the Andaman basin that cover more than 47,000 square kilometres and which the oil minister has said could contain reserves comparable to discoveries off Guyana. The offering is the largest acreage made available under India’s exploration framework.

The Open Acreage Licensing Policy, introduced in 2016 as part of the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy, replaced the previous auction model and allows firms to identify areas themselves and receive a five-point advantage. Incentives include reduced royalty rates, concessional royalties for early production, removal of oil cess and freedom in marketing and pricing. Previous rounds up to OALP-IX put up a total of 378,000 square kilometres for bidding and saw limited competition.

OALP-IX attracted a number of bidders including state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Oil India Ltd (OIL) and private-sector Vedanta Ltd, with ONGC emerging as the largest winner. The government said it hopes larger offerings will lift domestic output and help reduce the annual oil import bill estimated at Rs 18.26 trillion (tn). Repeated deadline extensions suggest investor caution amid regulatory change and global market uncertainty.